Police in Anne Arundel are stepping up enforcement of safety laws in the wake of eight local pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in 2011. According to The Sun, officers will be issuing warnings and citations to drivers who edge into bike lanes, jaywalking pedestrians, and other unsafe road-sharers.

It remains to be seen what effect these measures will have and if they will inspire surrounding counties to follow suit. Certainly with the modest influx of bike lanes in Baltimore City recently (some of which run contrary to the flow of car traffic), a thorough refresher in bicycle safety for both motorists and cyclists would be welcome here as well. And with pedestrian fatalities holding steady across Maryland even as total traffic fatalities have decreased, a re-education in the art of vehicular (and non-vehicular) coexistence couldn’t come too soon.